Hydroaeroplane.



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APPLIC ULY I4, l9l4. mmmm Patented July 27, 1915.`

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T. SLOPER.

HYDROAEROPLANE.

APPLICATION FILED 1uLY14. 1914.

Lmw., Patented July 27, 1915.

5 SHEETSSHEET 3.

T. SLOPER.

HYDHOAEROPLANE.

Mmc/umn msn JULY 14. |914.

340 Patented July 27, 1915.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

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T. SLOPER.

HYDROAEROPLANE.

APPLICATION HLED JULY 14. 1914.

LMMU Patented July 27, 1915.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

,W 1171625566. bu/@MOT THOMAS sLoPER, or DEvIzEs, ENGLAND.

HYDROAEROPLANE. l

innesto.

Application led .Tuly 14, 1914. Serial N o. 851,017.

- To all whom t may concern.'

le it known that I, THOMAS SLOPER, a subject of the King of England,residing at Devizes, in l/Viltshire, England, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Hydroaeroplanes, of which the following is aspecification.

As is well-known hydro-aeroplanes are sometimes provided with wheels fdrlanding purposes and these have heretofore been supported from the frameof the hydroaeroplane independently of the floats, some resilient meansbeing introduced to take up shock between the wheels and the frame, orthe wheels have been carried in recesses in rigid floats.

According to the present invention, a fllpat is employed which is madeto keep its s ape float andone or more wheels are combined therewithcarried by a part which is connected to the frame of the machine throughthe float in such manner that the latter serves as a cushion between theframe and such member. llt will be appreciated that a rigid oat wouldnot thus act as a cushion even though the wheels were carried on it.Flexible inflated floats, that is, floats made to keep their shape by agas under pressure are known, but not as used to carry the wheels forlanding. rlhe member carrying the wheel may be supported by two or moreof the inflated floats, andXthe wheel may be mounted in such positionlthat part of it projegts into a lspace provided between two floatchambers side by side, or the float may be provided with a cavity in itsunder-side and the member carrying the wheel may be mounted within thiscavity.

ln the accompanying drawings Figure l is a side elevation of a doublefloat and wheel according to one method of carrying out thisinventiongfFig. 2 is a plan of the same; Fig. 3 is a front view of twodouble floats secured to the frame of a hydroaeroplane, one of thefloats and its wheel being shown in section; Fig. 4 is a section througha float provided with a cavity having a wheel mounted therein, 'and Fig.5 is a section through the cavity in the plane of the wheel.

The same letters indicate the same parts throughout the drawings.

The double floats comprise two elongated oat-chambers A, A1, or B, B1,which may byl gas under pressure within the be made of flexiblematerial, rubberized or vulcanized and secured together in sections, andis made to maintain its shape by being filled with gas under pressure.

On the upper side of each float-chamber longitudinal members C. of woodor other material are secured in any convenient manner. Fastened to thelongitudinal members C are transverse frame-members E", which constitutepart of the main framework of the hydro-aeroplane and brace together twodouble floats, as shown in Fig. l3, the members extending vover the fourchambers and being secured to the longitudinal members C on each. Eachfloatchamber has on its under-side'other longitudinal members C1 and thechambers c011- stituting one double float are braced together by a lowertransverse member F which has mounted upon it a wheel F1. The wheel isconveniently mounted at the middle of thi-s member, so that its upperhalf lies between the two members A, A1 which are spaced apartsufficiently for this purpose. -Obviously the transverse member F may beextended as one across the whole of the four chambers if desired, butmore yield is a'orded by dividing it in' the manner shown in Fig. 3 andproviding one wheel on each portion.

It will be seen that when either or both of the wheels F1 strike theground, the impact is transmitted from the wheel to the transversemember F and thence to the float-chambers which thus act as a cushionbetween the wheel and the main framemembers E of the hydro-aeroplane. Inthis way the shock is absorbed and the float is made to serve the doublepurpose of a float and a cushioning device for the Wheels, wherebycushioning devices for the wheels auxiliary to the floats can bedispensed with.

In the arrangement shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the landing wheel G ismounted within a cavity formed by a hood H mounted in the float. Withthis construction it is not necessary to employ double floats, but asingle float on each side of the machine can be used, each having in ita wheel G. The hood H may be formed of sheet metal and is connected tothe wall J by means of a fluid tight joint, such as shown at H1. Thewheel is carried by a tubular aXle..G1 mounted in sockets G2 havingslotted arms or ear-pieces G3.

When assembling the parts, the wheel with the axle and sockets all inplace are slid up into the hood and the slots of the arms Gr3 arebrought opposite bolts K se- 5 cured to the hood H. vThese bolts arepro- Ivided with nuts K1 which lie on that side v of the arms G3 remotefrom the inner face of .the hood H, so that when these are screwed homethey grip the arms against the hood H and thereby hold the wheel inplace. If it is desired to stay the hood H, this may be done bytie-wires L which extend from the upper portion of the hoodto anchoringdevices L1 which extend through the wall of the fabric to receiveitheties L.

It will be seen that a wheel mounted in the fioat in this manner offerslittle wind resistance and the air-pressure within the oat tends to keepit in position against undue lateral displacement, althoughthis may besupplemented byI thel ties L as already eX- plained: The lresilience ofthe float is moreover still retained as the float constitutesacushioning member between the supportingaxle for the wheel and theframe of the hydro-aeroplane which would be secured to the upper side ofthe ioat as already described with reference to Figs. 1-3.

Obviously the hold H may be secured by ties extending to any part of theioat and in addition to these ties serving to hold the hood in position,they may also serve to ,hold

in any part of the oat which tends to be distorted.

What I claim as my invention and desire -to secure by Letters Patent isi 1. For a hydro-aeroplane the combination of, a float made of flexiblematerial and constructed to keep its shape by being filled with gasunder pressure, a landing-wheel 4for the float, and means supporting theWheel y'from the float in suchmanner that the float serves as a cushionbetween the wheel and the part of the hydro-aeroplane supported by thefloat, substantially as set forth.

-2. For a hydro-aeroplane' the combination Jof, a oat made of iiexiblematerial and constructed to keep its -shape by being filled with gasunder pressure, means for attaching the frame of the hydro-aeroplane tothe upper side ofthe float, a landing-wheel for the float, and means forsupporting the landinglwheel from the under-side of the ioatso that theloatserves as a cushion between the substantially as set forth.

, 3. For a hydro-aeroplane the combination of, a float made of lflexiblematerial constructed to keep its shape by being filled with gas underpressure,-means for securing 'the frame of the hydro-aeroplane to theupper side of the float, alanding-wheel for the ioat, and abearing-member for the landingwheel supported from the under-sidev ofthe 5 float in such position that the upperpart of wheel and the frameof the hydro-aeroplane,

4. For a hydro-aeroplane the combination of, a float made of flexiblematerial and constructed to keep its shape by being lled with gas underpressure, means for attaching the frame of the hydro-aeroplane to theupper side of the float, a landing-wheel for the float, a bearing-memberfor the wheel, and a support for-the bearing-member secured to theunder-side of the ioat, the float being provided with a cavity above thesupport to receive the upper part of the wheel, substantially as setforth.

5. For a hydro-aeroplane the combination of, a float made of iiexiblematerial and constructed to keep its shape by being filled with gasunder pressure, a landing-wheel for the float, a rigid hood securedwithin the float with its mouth opening downward through the bottom ofthe float, and means for securing a bearing-member for the landing-wheelto the hood, substantially as set forth.

6. For a hydro-aeroplane the combination of, aoat made of flexiblematerial and constructed to keep its shape by being filled with gasunder pressure, a landing wheel for the ioat, a rigid hood securedwithin the float with its mouth openingdownward through the bottom ofthe float, means for securing a bearing-member for the landingwheel tothe hood, and internal ties securing the upper end of the hood to thefloat, substantially as set forth.

7. For a hydro-aeroplane the combination of, a float made of-ilexible'material and i constructed to keep its shape by being filledwith gas under pressure, means for securing the up er part of the iioatto the frame'of the hydro-aeroplane to support the latter, a

hood secured within the lioat with its mouth lto slide into the hood,and clamping means -carried by the walls of the hood to secure the'armsthereto, substantially as set forth.

8. For a hydro-aeroplane the combinationy of a float made of flexiblematerial and constructed to keep its shape by being filled with gas'under pressure, means for securin the upper part of the float to theframe o the hydro-aeroplane. to support the latter, a hood securedwithin the ioattwith its mouth opening downward through the bottom ofthe float, a landing-wheel for the oat rotatably mounted on an axle,arms one on each endv of the axle and made with the axle to slide intothe` hood, and bolts and nuts carried two on each side of the hood andso poname to this specification in the presence sitioned as tlc; engageslots) inhthe arms1 on of two subscribing witnesses. the axle so t atthese can e s 'd into p ace about the bolts and then held by screwingTHOMAS SLPER' 5 home the movable members of the bolts and Witnesses:

nuts, substantially as set forth. i v HAROLD PARSONS, In testimonywhereof I have signed my JAMES ARBEN.

